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4 Mar 2012

Memories & Photo's of Birmingham Mods Del Evans & Gill Taylor

Writing this takes me back to an exciting time in my life, back to July 1960 when I had just finished 3 years at Moseley Art School in Birmingham. I studied Dress Design , Pattern Cutting & Dressmaking also History of Costume as well as other Art subjects.

I didn’t want to wear what everyone else was wearing I wanted to get my own look. I cut my hair into a bob and tinted it with Color-Glo Black Tulip, I designed & made a collection of dresses, coats and bags mainly in black, navy & grey. I’d meet my friends from Art School at the Stage Door Coffee Bar just off High St. in Birmingham city centre and also The Old Stone Cross in Dale End where Spencer Davis played and Steve Winwood sang long before they were famous. It was there that I met my husband to be Del Evans, we were interested in the same things – clothes & music.

In early 1962 we were looking thru’ a French magazine and there was an advert for Gitanes cigarettes the model had his hair cut in a french crop and he had a very stylish look, we really liked it and started recreating it.

Del started designing his own suits and having them made to measure at Hepworths in New Street Birmingham. He had a navy 2 piece with chalk stripe, high lapel, 4 button with double vent and ticket pocket, a black and white tweed 4 button with flap pockets including ticket pocket and double vents,a black Irish tweed jacket with Ghillie collar and flap pockets also a Ghillie collar suit in navy pin stripe.

We bought shirts and I removed the collars so that Del could wear stiff white collars fastened on by back and front studs. Our favourite shirts were charcoal grey or black and white gingham. Del also had a black and white gingham giraffe tab collar shirt which he is wearing in one of our photos with a pale grey lambswool sweater, Ghillie collar suit and topped by a black leather coat which he designed and I made for him. When wearing his suits he would always have a silk pocket handkerchief and a knitted tie in navy or black. Del has always loved button down collar shirts and still wears them now.

It was fashionable at one point for Mod lads to have walking sticks as shown in one of our photo’s and when we went to the West End Ballroom in Birmingham on a Sunday night they would dance with them.

There was a boutique in Brighton called 13 and a half where I bought a genuine french onion sellers black and white striped top which I still have.

I designed and made many clothes for myself usually on a Sunday morning to wear at the West End Ballroom on a Sunday night amongst my favourites were a navy wool skirt and jacket with scallops and a navy and cream flowered collar,a navy crepe dress with white flounces on the collar and cuffs, a black linen skirt and jacket with large flower design, a pair of french round sunglasses, a black nylon trench mac, a denim hipster skirt with belt and a blue patterned top with flounced neck and cuffs.A brown leather jacket and skirt worn with a black polo neck jumper and a black leather waistcoat with a scoop neck. These are just a few of the many clothes we had, they are shown in our photos.

Sometimes on a Saturday morning we would catch the train to London to go to John Stephens and the Mod Male. We heard that Anello and David the theatrical shoe makers were selling cuban heel chelsea boots and we went to get a pair.When we got there we were amazed to see the queue of Mods waiting to get into the shop to buy them .We waited in the queue for ages but the shop shut before our turn. When we got back to Birmingham I got their phone number and arranged for 2 pairs to be sent by post. Del is wearing them in one of our photos.

The KD coffee house was a popular place to meet up especially on a Saturday morning before going to the West End on a Saturday afternoon.The West End was a great place to go to on a Sunday night there was a DJ and around 9 there would be a group on. The Whiskey ago go and The Golden Eagle in Hill Street were really good places to go.

We still wear Mod style and Del likes to wear smart suits with button down shirts in deep colours or black and white gingham. I still design and make my own clothes and work as a designer dressmaker.

15 comments:

lloyd Johnson
said...

Great photos!...no myths there....it's really nice to hear true stories back up with photos like these...I had a suede jacket with a leather collar very similar to the one in your photos ..mine was brown suede with brown leather pocket flaps and collar...Our coffee Bar 'The Pamdor' In Hastings.East Sussex was above the Hastings branch of Hepworths and most of us went to Burtons or Hepworths for our suits...a suit cost around £12-£15 in the early 60s...thanks for showing your photos...

Gill From brum myself, remember all this in brum back in the sixties, hepworths, west end, the whisket over chetwyns, rainbow sweet and bands that were on at the odeon new street Spencer Davies etc. me and my wife jan were mods ourselves and still go to do's in brum Now!!!

What a fantastic write up, thouroughly enjoyed the trip back to great times. The photos were excellent- I also had a suede jacket with leather collar and a mock croc bag. Though I was not clever enough to make my own clothes !. Thanks for sharing your memories.

Hi Lloyd thanks for your comments its great to hear others Mods memories of the time.Del's suede jacket was also brown with leather collar and flap pockets.There was a club in Birmingham called the Whiskey which was over a menswear shop called Chetwyns.Del & I have wanted to share our photo's for a long time.

Hi Lloyd thank-you for your comments its great to hear other Mods memories of the time.Del's suede jacket was also brown with leather collar and pocket flaps.There was a club in Birmingham called the Whiskey which was over a menswear shop called Chetwyns.Del & I think it's great to have our photo's on JACK THAT CAT WAS CLEAN.

Hi SidThanks for your comments it's great to get interest. Were you & Jan at Reunion a couple of years ago at Malmaison ? We were there with Bobby & Maxine Summers.We took photo's along a lot of people looked at them and reminised about the clothes that they had.

Great pictures and suits Gil!!I want to make a suit like your 4button! I live in Gothenburg/Sweden and just love the 60s modstyle in clothes.Could you help me out with a pattern or some general directions? Can I email you?All the best/ Samuel H

I was too young to be a proper Mod but, having seen two sixth formers at my school turn up one morning on an immaculate scooter wearing crombies and bowler hats (which were replaced with school caps before they entered the school building) I was desperate to become one. By the time I was old enough, Mod was on the wane and the choice was skinhead or greaser! I obviously chose the former, but was left feeling a bit unsatisfied.

Can I ask about the shoes that Del is wearing in the pic with the chalk stripe suit – are they the elusive Solatios?

The Who, The Smallfaces and many others who played for our entertainment.

I remember rocking a battered van, back & forth one night, containing Andy Fairwether-Low, (Amen Corner) who we thought may be having his way with a local girl inside.

Also the famous Sat night when it was raided by the police with the bus outside, and so legend has it, every one in the toilet flushing pills down the loo, not that I saw a lot of drugs.

All dayer’s on a Sunday were always my fav, Sundays in the UK were so dead in those days, nothing open at all.

Anyone remember the Four Seasons on top of Griffin & Spaldings Dept store, where we would all meet to have a chat and coffee, also the Kardomah round the corner, very bohemian, the L shaped rooms on Glasshouse Street, very chic but very dark inside if I recall and the Joe Lyons tea shop on long Row.

Renos Restaurant on Alfreton Road was where the scoooter boys would meet for eats, next door to Jeffs, the only shop in town you could buy any decent gear.

Friday nights at the rooftop dance at the Nottm Poly used to start our weekend, fab girls and great music (Wayne Fontana - any body)

The Manchester Twisted Wheel, The Clouds in Derby and of course The Greatest of them all....The Mojo in Sheffield, where Peter Stringfellow used to let a group of us sleep on the dance floor overnight before returning back to Nottm next morning, after raiding his small fridge, for eats.

It was when Stringfellow took over the music decks in mid 67 and gave Nottm its first taste of The Summer of Love, that for me the Soul era ended and most people went separate ways, but the memories remain, a little clouded maybe with time but still there all the same.

Best wishes.Roy

SOME OF THE MUSIC PLAYED.

At The Club..DriftersNeedle In A Haystack..VelvelettesShake Me Wake Me..Four TopsNothing But Heartaches..SupremesCan I Get A Witness..Marvin GayeI Spy For The FBI..Jamo ThomasOh How Happy..Shades Of BlueHoly Cow..Lee DorseyHeadline News..Edwin StarrBilly's Bag..Billy PrestonOpen The Door To Your Heart..Darrell BanksAl Capone..Prince BusterGetting Mighty Crowded..Betty EverettBeachwood 4-5789..MarvelettesLet's Go Baby Where The Action Is..Robert ParkerI'll Do Anything He Wants Me To..Doris TroyHarlem Shuffle..Bob And EarlThe Entertainer..Tony ClarkeHow Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You..Jnr WalkerB-A-B-Y..Carla ThomasNowhere To Run..Martha And The VandellasMy Guy..Mary WellsThe Way You Do The Things You Do..TemptationsBig Time Operator..Zoot MoneyYou Don't Know Like I Know..Sam And DaveRespect..Otis ReddingHeatwave..Martha And The VandellasYou've Been Cheatin'..ImpressionsBarefootin..Robert ParkerLittle Darling..Marvin GayeKing Of Kings..Jimmy CliffBack In My Arms Again..SupremesStop Her On Sight..Edwin StarrThese Things Will Keep Me Lovin You..VelvelettesHelp Me..SpellbindersLoving You Is Sweeter Than Ever..Four Tops634-5789..Wilson PickettGet Ready..TemptationsSee-Saw..Don CovayJust A Little Misunderstanding..ContoursRight Track..Bill ButlerHelpless..Kim WestonRoad Runner..Jnr WalkerWorking In The Coal Mine..Lee DorseyI Can't Stand It..Soul SistersThis Old Heart Of Mine..Isley Brothers